All kinds of things are coming together these days. I’m starting to feel more settled, somehow. Maybe from moving, maybe from other things.

The major coming together of the month was my brother’s wedding! I realized I never wrote about that. Everything about it was beautiful and perfect. I’ve never seen two people so much in love. Maybe I’ve just never been in a wedding, so didn’t get to see everything up front, but wow. These two. Add to that a beach in Hawaii, and you’re golden. It was stunning.

The first day became a beach day, which was lovely. Spread out, chill out, read, nap, check out the water and fish. And with nearly all my favorite people. My other brother and his family (super cool sister-in-law, two precious nieces), parents, boyfriend and his family, my new sister-in-law, aunt, cousin…

There were chill days, adventure days around the island, rehearsals and dinners, volcanoes, the wedding itself. Getting ready. I’m so excited to see pictures! There were some precious moments: getting “Bridesmaid” shirts from the bride, figuring out hair and makeup, my dad coming in and out – I think the photographer got one of both him and the bride fixing hair in the mirror -, the first look at her in her dress, helping her get her train into the pickup truck she drove to the wedding (oh man. Amazing). Watching her watch my brother, my brother sitting faced away from her at the front. Distracting her when she kept saying, “I look at [him] and I’m gonna start crying.” For goodness, sake, I almost started crying then! Walking in with my other brother, the ring they both bought me for my 18th on my hand. Listening to them say their vows, watching them just be so, so in love. The delicious food, the hilarity of the dancing.

Pololū Valley

lava

So that trip was amazing. In every way. Took a day to run around practically the whole island, then slowed down to one of the most delicious meals out I’ve ever had, with this guy who continues to make me happy.

Things are coming together.

Today, for example. I was finally able to go to a yoga class this evening, for the first time since realizing there were classes my company would pay for through a gym membership. I’ve been wanting to go for a month or more. Tonight managed to open up enough that I went. I’m pretty intimidated by gyms, so it was nice to go in, be pointed in the right direction, and join others who were learning – getting direction for a workout. That’s the other thing about yoga. It’s hard, but it doesn’t quite feel like working out. And it’s a nice balance of workout and meditation for me, my own getaway from the madness. It was a pretty small class tonight, and for the most part I didn’t feel judged. Though there was that time I was stretching the opposite side as everyone else…

Then there is the continuous, seemingly-in-vain attempt at getting into a morning routine that I like. Ideally, it includes meditation, eating breakfast, writing my novel, showering, and making some try to look nice rather than running out the door. ONE of those things might start to happen, which might spur on the others. Baby steps. There is a local writing group, and some members also either write early or would like to. So it’s looking like some of us are going to create a kind of phone/e-mail tree to wake the others up when they want. If we all want to get up around 6am, then one has to and then calls the others. Maybe they call three times every five minutes and then stop. Or something. But that could be really awesome.

I also recently discovered and then tried out a super fast breakfast-making operation. You can bake eggs into hard-boiled-ness. Requires a muffin tin and eggs. Sunday night I bake-boiled a dozen eggs at once, leaving me an easy breakfast of 2 eggs each morning. If you keep the shells on, they’ll last about a week. Take them off, and it’s 2 days. Ready? Pre-heat oven to 325F (350 if your oven runs a touch cool), put one egg per muffin space (this prevents them from moving around too much), and then bake for 25-30 minutes. So far, I’ve found the yokes tend towards one side when you’re done, and there are some pinprick brown dots when you peel them. Neither is reason for concern. Between that and the occasional Instant Breakfast (provided I both have milk and it’s not gone bad), I might start eating breakfasts. The bagel place by work will still tempt me on occasion, I’m sure, but I’m trying to get away from the intake of carbs in the morning. The Internet* says it’s not good for your day energy. So there. So…there…toasted bagel with cream cheese.

* Side note, my morning goals have been set for a long time before I saw an article like that. I already know TM, or transcendental meditation and love it. Etc. Carry on.

Writing, breakfast, meditation is sure to follow. As long as I don’t go back to sleep. I’ve gotta finish this novel before I leave for my hike, and time is decreasing rather more rapidly than I’d prefer! That, and maybe weekly yoga, and then maybe weekly writing group (evening). Ohmygosh. Keep breathing. But that would be really great. This could be really great.

So, I moved out of one place and into another, the boyfriend seems to be sticking around (and reading me better, we’ll get to that soon), and a brother is getting married this week!

The Move:

The move actually went really well. Hire movers if you can. It took them less than 3 hours to move everything out and then in. 3 hours! I remember doing this myself and it was a painful, all-day thing. Not so with professionals! I had rescheduled the Internet/cable technician to come after the movers left, but that memo didn’t get to where it needed to be, so he arrived while the movers were still getting boxes into rooms. Oh well, it all got done in one day. I’m still unpacking stuff. It’s amazing how much you actually need to live and how much you can really do without. I’ll find out a lot more about that when I go on my hike! So I’ve basically been putting it off, but at some point I’ll finish the last boxes and get pictures up, etc.

I like the new place a lot. The space is a little easier to work with, and I now have a “reading corner” in my room, which is becoming my favorite place. The trick now is to keep it clutter-free! The kitchen is a touch smaller than I’d like but very workable. Still need a rug for my room and new curtains of some sort.

Downsides: no more washer and dryer in my apartment. It is on site, but you have to put money on this card, and the card machine isn’t even in a laundry room, it’s in the gym room, and the 2 cards for laundry and to get into the gym look exactly the same. Really? But it’s not a huge deal so far. It’ll be good to move more things around. Anything, anything to get myself in gear for this hike! I did my have first roach and other-nasty-bug (centipede or silverfish, ugh) experience yesterday and am on high alert now. They are fine outside. I don’t like them inside.

Speaking of the hike, I did the walk from the office to the new place (conveniently located near a bike trail), and it took me about an hour, 3.3 miles. Hopefully that becomes a regular commute.

The Boy:

He stayed with me a couple of weeks to help me move. So far, so good still. He’s increasingly meeting more friends and they like him, which is always a good sign 😉 A bunch of of went out to see Dazed and Confused because a theater was playing it, and we went out after and had a really fun time. It was even on a <gasp> weeknight! I’m starting to get his humor better, he’s starting to read me better. Wonderful case in point: I was feeling antsy and needed some space after the move. I loved having him here, and trying to get into this strange new routine of eating normal dinners at normal times. It was odd to get used to, as much as I did, with my absurd work hours, and now I know what everyone else who lives with a significant other means when they have to get home, they have to go make dinner, they want to just be with that person, whether they’re working or not. Just to be. Anyway, I am not used to that. And I hadn’t had a chance to make this new place my own, really. But before I would have said anything, I made some comment one morning that my work was going to be nuts, and he suggested he leave me be and go home for a week. And that is, really, what I wanted, but I felt bad saying it. He made it so I didn’t have to, which I appreciate tons (yes, noted that I should say these things in future but it’s not always easy). So, he comes back today and then we are off to said brother’s wedding! Yes, we. So, so, so excited. Aloha!

Other:

What else. I’m experimenting with beer, which I’ve never liked. That’s been an interesting adventure thus far. Work had some drama, but it’s on its way to being worked out. I’ve discovered and fallen in love with a new TV show called The Fosters. Watch it. It’s great. I went back to my writing group after forever, months and months. I am realizing how fast my goal to publish is approaching, so I’m attempting to finish editing the novel. 3am work nights make this difficult sometimes, but vacation soon and lots of plane rides to work on it 😀

Jan 1: Woke up, stayed up for awhile, fell asleep for an hour, then woke up for good. Had a day off from work so this isn’t as bad as it sounds. Managed to meditate twice, and made crepes and pasta for meals. Check.

Jan 2: Woke up at my alarm, meditated, used most of remaining crepe batter for breakfast. I’d prepared homemade lunch last night and put it in the fridge. This is a big step up from my usual of eating out, fast-food, or ramen in the office. Began hour of writing…and discovered that somehow Dropbox had not saved my latest version of my novel. A chapter and a half (of pretty good writing, mind you) were suddenly gone. Heart dropped to stomach. This is pure horror. I figured I’d do a desperate check – I’d written those words on my old computer, which I still have. Maybe Dropbox failed? So, I booted that up and went to the file – the same one I’d just opened on my new computer – and somehow that chapter and a half appeared. If you’ve ever written a long piece you’ve been working on for months…you might have some sense of the utter relief I felt. Quickly, I emailed this version to myself and re-opened it, saving the new chapter to my current work-in-progress. Phew. After work, I made dinner. Stayed up late (hardest habit to break). Then, I decided to sync my novel to my iPad and maybe bring it to my favorite breakfast place and write for an hour before work, without lugging my laptop. Confused about why it was not “taking” my morning’s additions, I booted up my laptop and checked there – no additions. Why? Why? It was like the horror from the morning, but worse, since it seemed there was no way to fix it. I submitted a trouble ticket to the software company, but doubt there’s anything they can do. This is perhaps not a good start to my writing-time resolution. Meditated before bed….which wound up being at 2am.

Jan 3: The being up until 2am thing really screwed with me. Since I couldn’t really write anyway, I wound up resetting my alarm over and over until 2 hours later. This resulted in a 5-minute shower, grabbing my bag, and running out the door. No meditating, no breakfast, and since I had planned on rolling my burritos in the morning, no lunch. Well, lunch became ramen at work. I grabbed a bagel and iced tea before work. Then “dinner” became the happy hour for work (definitely falls under the bad-for-you category). Once home, I tried all the steps the software company suggested but to no avail. That chapter’s gone. I meditated, set my alarm, and fell asleep.

Jan 4: After hours and hours of sleep, woke up (late), meditated, showered, and got distracted by my computer. Tried eating Toaster Strudels; couldn’t do it. Ugh. Finally ate rice for lunch. Dinner was pizza as usual, before dancing. Did not meditate before bed.

Jan 5: Meditated in the morning! Ate cereal for breakfast, then out for some Shakespeare and Chinese. Didn’t meditate, just bed.

Jan 6: Oops, slept in a little more. But ate breakfast, then meditated. Made pasta for dinner, and more burritos for lunch Monday. Meditated before bed.

Jan 7: I’d stayed up late again, and so slept in again. Bah. Meditated anyway, ate breakfast, ran out the door. Will meditate before bed – weekdays that’s pretty much a guarantee.

Stats:

Meditation: 11/14 times – not bad.

Writing: 1/5 – eek.

Eating breakfast: 5/7 times (rushed bagel doesn’t count; not part of routine)

Making food: significantly improved over 2012!

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Brief Bio

I'm a writer by nature and profession. I don't like tomatoes, thus having them thrown at me is really no fun. But life throws them, and I deal with them. When this started, they primarily consisted of Dad's prostate cancer, my neck pain, and random thoughts in between. Now, life is throwing my slightly fewer tomatoes, but I try to capture the good and the bad.

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